Go Light
Large red shapes drifted slowly upward in the emerald water like globs in a lava lamp. Just as the features came into focus, the thin braided line telegraphed a savage strike. The rod doubled, the tip within inches of the cork handle. All I could do was hang on.
“Is that what you were looking for?” mate Scott Savoir asked with a laugh.
“I think you got one, Dave,” Capt. Scott Robson added over my shoulder while he held the 52-foot G&S Phoenix in position over the shallow artificial reef. My only response was a grunt.
Slowly I gained the upper hand, halting the fish’s initial dive. With short, quick pumps, I gained line inch by stubborn inch. After one last surge from the fish, Savoir brought the hefty 12-pound red snapper aboard for a quick photo before release. Beyond the transom, several more swirled. Now this was my kind of “bottomfishing,” and we were only on the first spot.
Robson, the president of the Destin Charter Boat Association, has seen a lot of changes over the last three decades. The charter fleet, which stays busy in this bustling tourist destination, traditionally offsets inexperience with an arsenal of heavy rods and 4/0 conventional reels. But for anglers looking for a challenge, Robson and his cohorts are certainly willing to scale down.
“I don’t know why more of my clients don’t want to use lighter gear,” he says. “When we stop and chum, the fish rise on cue and everyone says it looks like an aquarium. But lighter gear is getting more popular. Shorter seasons and lower bag limits aside, people are discovering just how much fun it is to catch snapper this way.”
Catching big snapper on light tackle is doable for several reasons. The fish congregate around the numerous artificial reefs scattered across the northern Gulf, and the bigger fish typically hang higher in the water column. They are also curious and aggressively compete for food, so chumming brings them even closer to the surface and away from potential entanglements. Robson and many other Destin skippers fish reefs they’ve built, but there are dozens of public reefs that hold snapper from Destin to Pensacola.
“The big fish don’t need that structure for protection like the little ones,” Robson says. “Not much is going to eat them, so they’ll always be off the bottom. And once you get ’em fired up with chum, they come right to the surface. Free-line a bait back there, count to five, and before you get the reel in gear, they’ll grab it. Then hang on. Once they’re hooked, you have to keep the pressure on or they’ll beat you on the first run.”
For chum, Robson likes frozen Boston mackerel diced into small cubes. It’s cheap and makes a nice, oily slick. Bonito (little tunny) is a good substitute. Handfuls of chum cubes tossed overboard don’t take long to work. When the fish start rising to the surface, a larger, free-lined chunk on a circle hook stands out like a side of beef. Robson’s light-tackle bait rig includes 15- to 20-pound braided main line connected to 2 feet of 60-pound fluorocarbon leader with double uni-knots. The leader is snelled to a 10/0 to 12/0 bronze circle hook.
“We catch our biggest snapper on live cigar minnows or herring, but when you get them excited with the chum, cut bait works just fine,” Robson says.
Chummed snapper aren’t shy about eating lures either. I landed that 12-pounder on a Shimano Waxwing lure retrieved through the slick. Other subsurface swimming baits and bucktail jigs work too, and when the fish are in a feeding frenzy, topwater plugs like Heddon Zara Spooks and Rapala Skitter Walks get slammed as well. The rig is the same as for bait, except a monofilament loop knot is used to give the lure more action.
“Color really doesn’t matter,” Robson explains. “They’re just reacting to anything that’s moving or flashing. When they’re fired up, they don’t care.”
Calm days with little wind and current have the best conditions to keep the chum concentrated over the reef. These factors typically coincide with summer mornings after the bait schools have moved inshore. Robson says the chumming technique will also work on vermilion snapper, triggerfish and amberjack at times. Gray snapper, called black snapper locally, will take baits right off the surface, although they are much warier than their red counterparts.
“Red snapper are still my favorite,” Robson explains. “They’re big, and man, do they pull! If you’re looking for a light-tackle challenge, it doesn’t get any better than when you’re seeing red.”
TRIP PLANNER
When using light tackle, Robson concentrates on structure in less than 100 feet. Ideal depths are 60 to 80 feet. He typically holds the boat in position with the engines running, but anchoring and powering down really puts the fish at ease.
“If you anchor and start chumming, they won’t spook at all. They’ll be eating the barnacles off the side of the boat,” he says.
Rods: 7-foot medium-action casting or spinning rods with fast tips.
Reels: Quality reels with smooth drags, like the Shimano Curado 301 series in bait casters or 4000-series spinning reels, loaded with 15- to 20-pound PowerPro braided line.
Leaders: Two feet of 60-pound fluorocarbon leader.
Lures and baits: Subsurface swimming lures like the Shimano Waxwing, Rapala Glidin’ Rap or Sebile Magic Swimmer when fish are down in the water column. Bomber Badonk-A-Donks, Heddon Super Spooks or MirrOlure Top Dogs for surface presentations. Cubes of fresh-cut Boston mackerel or bonito; live cigar minnows or herring.
At press time, the 2012 red snapper season was scheduled to open June 1. The closing date hadn’t been announced, but the season was expected to be 40 days long. Anglers likely will be allowed to keep two red snapper, 16-inch minimum, per day. The captain and crew aboard charter boats cannot possess any fish, and red snapper are counted as part of the 10-fish-per-day snapper aggregate bag limit.
Florida state waters extend from the shore out nine nautical miles, and state regulations often mirror those in federal waters. For the latest snapper regs, check with myfwc.com/fishing for Florida waters or gulfcouncil.org for federal rules.
What: American red snapper.
When: May through September.
Where: Florida’s Emerald Coast.
Who:
Capt. Scott Robson
Charter Boat Phoenix
850-837-9734
www.fishingindestin.net
Destin Charter Boat Association
www.hookedondestin.com
Food and Entertainment:
HarborWalk Village
Lucky Snapper Grill & Bar
850-654-0900
www.luckysnapper.com
The Shed Barbeque & Blues Joint
850-460-2271
www.theshedbbq.com/destin
Destin History & Fishing Museum
850-837-6611
www.destinhistoryandfishingmuseum.org
Lodging:
Jetty East Condominium Resort
Gated resort on the Gulf with daily and weekly rentals
800-368-0222
www.jettyeast.com
Reef Savvy
Snapper fishing is all about finding structure, and in this part of the Gulf, that means artificial reefs likely as not. Here are a few coordinates to help you get started. When traveling to and from, watch your sonar, and you’ll soon have a set of your own spots to return to. For a complete listing of Gulf artificial reefs by county, visit www.myfwc.com/media/131585/reefs.pdf.
Urchin Reef #48 & #49 (65 feet)
30˚21.784′ N
86˚27.901′ W
Sandflea Reef #12 (70 feet)
30˚21.443′ N
86˚25.914′ W
Starfish Reef #4 (100 feet)
30˚08.699′ N
86˚37.529′ W
ReefEx #9 (69 feet)
30˚21.327′ N
86˚25.344′ W
Santa Rosa Marine Resort III (85 feet)
30˚04.935′ N
87˚10.423′ W
East Lap Reefballs (94 feet)
30˚06.820′ N
87˚10.080′ W
Rusty B Reef (89 feet)
30˚04.756′ N
87˚11.370′ W
Donut Reef (82 feet)
30˚10.883′ N
87˚14.446′ W
Go Light
They Come for Chum
Big and Plentiful
Throw Hardware
